


I Still Loved You

by strangerphans



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gen, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Langst, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, kind of??, klance, sfw, soft klance, voltron season six spoilers whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 05:53:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14948799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangerphans/pseuds/strangerphans
Summary: 'We’ve gotten through a lot, you and I, wars and battles and traumas. I can only hope that this is another battle and we’ll come out victorious.'-Lance with Keith and thinks about their relationship and how it changed through time.





	I Still Loved You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just in case anyone is confused, the narrator is Lance and the person he is speaking to is Keith. Enjoy!

The first thing I noticed was your heartbeat. You were lying on my chest, your head tucked under my chin, as we slept together on some insignificant night. I could feel your heart beating, a gentle rhythm that resonated within my chest and lulled me into my dreams. 

 

You lurched and the beat changed. Your chest rose and fell and rose and fell with each quick beat. I counted them in beats of sevens. One two three four five six seven. One two three four five six seven. One two three four five six seven. It sped up when you began to move in my arms. 

 

“Lance?” Your voice was quiet and tired, the way it always is when something rouses your from your sleep. You were still for a moment before your grip on my waist tightened and you dug your head into my shoulder.

 

“What happened? What’s happening?” You breathed out. I had no answer, no explanation for your sudden palpitations, so I only cradled your head and held you close against me. Your heartbeats pounded through into me, I could feel each and every one of them. “Why’s it so fast?” 

 

“Does it hurt?” I asked quietly. You moved a hand up to feel the side of your neck, the place where the pulse rate is often taken, and let out a shaky breath. 

 

“I can feel it- I can feel it pulsate.” You groaned, “I can _hear_ it.”  I kissed your neck lazily before sitting up and reaching over to the nightstand. My iPod and earphones (two of the few things in my pockets when we suddenly left earth) were lying there as usual so I scooped them up and selected a playlist. It was the one I put on when either of us have nightmares, a relaxing mix of acoustic songs and cello pieces. I secured the buds in your ears and turned the volume to a comfortable level. 

 

I noticed how you pulled your chest away from mine, just enough for them not to be touching. You couldn’t stand for your heartbeat to be different from mine, to be so alien. I guided you back to me and pulled the duvet over us. 

 

Your heartbeat was never the same but I still loved you. 

 

I still loved you when you changed again. You cried and screamed as your bones grew and rearranged themselves, and I cried when you refused to let me hold you. 

 

“I’ll hurt you. I’ll hurt you.” You repeated through screams. Your teeth elongated, your ears grew pointed, and yet I still thought you were handsome, even when your face was red and wet from tears and snot. You screamed as your nails grew and your tore them down the wall, leaving long scratches and blood on your fingers. You turned back to me and, for a moment, you eyes were a dull yellow. They turned back when you saw how scared I was and you went from angry to upset. 

 

“Lance, I-“ I didn’t let you finish, I tackled you and wrapped my arms around you. You’d grown a couple of inches and was finally the same height as me. It felt strange, having your eyes level to mine, but I still loved you.

 

Your diet changed. You ate more at dinner but never requested second helpings even when your stomach growled and roared. I always got Hunk to make you extra, though, and you ate it all. The only weight you gained was muscle. You started to train more and more, with such vigour and dedication that I often found to be intimidating. 

 

The first time you overpowered me was another insignificant day. You were doused in sweat from hours of training and I was fresh out of the bath so I figured that I would have much more energy than you would. I summoned my broadsword and your summoned your sword and we got straight into it. My precision was improving but I was still no match for your speed. You were quick to disarm me and tackle me, but not without making an easy jab at my side. 

 

Your eyes were wide when you realised what you’d done, how you’d turned our playful training into a critical situation. My eyes were wide, too, as I pulled a hand away from my side. Blood, a rich red colour, that stained my skin and t-shirt. You blubbered out apologises as you carried me to Coran, who got me into a healing pod almost immediately. 

 

The first thing I did when I got out of the pod was to assure you that I still loved you. 

 

Time passed, you left Voltron for the Blade Of Marmora, but we still kept in touch. I had Pidge and Hunk help to create you a copy of the music in my iPod and I gifted it to you as we said our goodbyes. We shared a final kiss, a sweet, tender kiss, before you left.

 

The Blade offered you things that I never could. You found people who had a heart that beat like your’s, ears that were pointed like your’s, and a language that finally felt right for you. I could never compete with them, I was just a boy from Cuba and these were warriors who showed you everything you ever wanted- family, friends, a feeling of belonging. 

 

You came back looking older, stronger, as if you’d experienced a whole lifetime in months we’d been apart. Your hair was longer, your eyes were darker, you were so different. Yet I still loved you, even when you pushed me aside in favour of everyone else. You introduced us to your mother, an Altean, and even a magical wolf you’d befriended. I liked that wolf, even if he did scare Kaltenecker.

 

You were distant, caught up in your brother and your past and all the problems you were facing. I wanted to put an arm around you and squeeze your broadened shoulder and tell you everything would be alright, but I was unsure of how you’d react. You’d changed since the last time we held each other. I couldn’t risk putting you in an uncomfortable position so I let the distance between us grow and grow, until our battle against Lotor ended and we laid Shiro down to rest. 

 

You held him close to your chest as his eyes opened. We were both crying as we knelt by his side. His hair was a bright shock of white and he’d scarred your cheek but you didn’t care, you still loved your brother more than anything. But you looked up from him to give me one of your soft smiles and it was then that I knew. I knew that you may not still love me but I would never stop adoring you. 

 

It took us a while to get back into the swing of things. Without the Castle Of Lions, there was no space for us to socialise. Every day was just travelling and travelling and then some more travelling, which was extremely exhausting when the only person you had for company was a cow. We all spoke to each other through the coms but it wasn’t the same as speaking face to face. You didn’t mention what we used to be so I didn’t bring it up either. 

 

We’ve been travelling for a good couple of months now. We haven’t spoken since our journey began. You spend most of your free time with Shiro, which I’m not upset about. If one of my brothers had died and had miraculously been brought back, I would never let him go again. You became a fierce protector, so fierce that I found you intimidating. It was starting to get hard to remember that you were still Keith, the boy I comforted when he had nightmares and the boy that I held and soothed when his bones rearranged under his skin. You’d become a man during a short space of time and I was struggling to keep up. I still loved you, though, even if things were different from before. 

 

Now we’re here, sitting across each other from a small fire we’d started on some insignificant planet, alone for the first time in forever. Your eyes are trained on the small flames with such concentration and focus, I wonder what’s on your mind. I’m thinking about our story, our time as lovers, and if there’s a possibility we can pick up where we left off. I’m not sure, I’m not a patch on any other guy in the galaxy, but I’m sure that you’re the only one I could ever love. We’ve gotten through a lot, you and I, wars and battles and traumas. I can only hope that this is another battle and we’ll come out victorious. 

 

“Hey.” You say all of a sudden. I look up to meet your eyes and suddenly the hands of Time are pushing me back, all the way back to when we were innocent teenagers that still melted every time you shot me a smile. My cheeks grow hot as I remember all the good times we had together. 

 

“Hi.” I say. 

 

“I still love you,” You give me that big goofy smile and I grin right back because all of my worries are gone, “I know I’m really bad at showing it, but I do.” I stand and go sit next to you. 

 

“Can I hold your hand?” I ask, my voice cracking. You nod and our fingers intertwine together for the first time in too long. My fingers find a home in the spaces between your knuckles. 

 

And for the first time in a long time, everything is quiet. All there is is the crackling of the fire and your hand in mine and my head on your shoulder. I don’t think I’ve ever loved you more.


End file.
